The Ninja Who Made Me a Man
by weasleygirl9393
Summary: Tony has always had tricks to make the ladies swoon. When a tan-skinned "ninja" comes into the squadroom and captures Tony's heart, his usual tricks no longer apply. When the woman he loves is in pain, Tony realizes that it's time for him to become a man.
1. Becoming a Man

**Author's Note: This is my first fanfic ever. I really love to write, but I have never really had the time or ideas to do a story before now. NCIS is one of my favorite shows. Tony and Ziva are amazing, and I knew that I wanted to write about them. Thank you so much for reading, and please review. Your feedback is appreciated, and I hope you like the story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS because if I did, Tiva would have gotten together A LONG TIME AGO! :)**

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><p>Even as a little boy I drooled every time a woman passed by. I've accepted that I don't really need to use my brain or emotions to catch a woman. Instead, I let Little Dinozzo do the thinking for me. Little Dinozzo isn't very picky. He resides in very expensive designer pants, and gets excited by the mere mention of boobs or butts. Having spent the majority of my life letting him control my choices for one night stands, I was caught off guard when a beautiful, tan skinned woman walked into the squad room one day. Not only was Little Dinozzo sounding off alarms, but my heart was beating at super sonic speed, and my brain couldn't form coherent words. Of course, she caught me at one of my moments when Little Dinozzo was going full speed. I was fantasizing about my old partner. This occurred often, especially now that she was gone.<p>

Usually, Dinozzo men are known for their game with women. We possess the charming smile, the smoldering eyes, and a laugh that make the ladies swoon. Even after 30 years of putting the moves on the ladies, I have never met a woman who turned me to mush like this brown-eyed goddess did. I had no idea what I was doing. She was beautiful, sensual, funny, and (much to my disbelief) intimidating. I later found out her name was Ziva David. She had a unique name to fit her unique personality. She was the most fascinating woman I had ever met.

I may not know much about love, but my fraternity buddies always told me that when you love a girl, you shouldn't throw yourself all over her. So I decided to wait it out. Sure, I dated other people. Little Dinozzo never failed to find me a woman to take home when I wanted one. The problem now was that I compared every woman to Ziva. None of them could even come close to her in comparison.

When I was sent undercover to fall in love with Jeanne, I thought I had found the one. However, even when I was with Jeanne, I still felt this ache in my heart that I knew could only be filled by one person.

I watched as she dated other men. It killed me inside, but I knew I couldn't just tell her my feelings. What if she rejected me? Sure women before had rejected me, but this one would kill me.

I have seen woman bounce back from numerous heartbreaks committed by their lovers. However, I am pretty sure I severed any chance of us ever being together when I killed her boyfriend. I probably would have been better off telling her she looked fat in her jeans. I don't really know what was going through my mind at the time. Looking back, Ziva was right; I was jealous.

When she stayed in Tel Aviv, I crumbled inside. When I found out she was dead, a part of me died. All I wanted was to have her back. Heck, I never even had her in the first place. I just knew that if she were still alive, I would take her in my arms and kiss her passionately and we would ride off into the sunset on a majestic horse.

I gave myself a mental Gibb's slap. Stop it, Dinozzo. You have seen way too many movies.

After Jeanne accused me of murdering her father, I remember Ziva telling me to "be a man." The look in Ziva's eyes when she said this made me decide to beome a better man. I knew that in order to be the man that Ziva would want me to be, I couldn't let her death go without revenge.

Deciding to go on that mission to Africa was the best decision of my life. That mission changed me. Seeing Ziva so broken and vulnerable tore my heart in two. If this were one of my movies, our reunion would have been filled with laughing and kissing. It was time to face the facts; this was not a movie. My ninja was in pain, and I needed to save her. In the end, I got my Ziva back. Or at least, that's what I thought.

Something was different about her. The sparkle in her chocolate eyes was gone. She was sad all of the time. She didn't laugh at my jokes or join in my banter. I could tell Mcgee and the Boss noticed it too. Abbs was the only one who said anything.

One day I was down in Abby's lab, bringing her the 15th Caf Pow of the day. She was rambling on about how her mass spectrometer is lonely, or something, when she broke off mid-sentence. She turned to me, looking very serious. (I took a few steps back because serious Abby scared me.) She took a breath and said, "Tony, I'm worried about Ziva. She has been less ninja-like, and more of a hollow log. I mean I know she has been through a lot, and I know we are all concerned about her, especially you. The Boss-man even seems concerned. I think we should have some type of intervention or something. You know, like maybe we can go bowling with my nun friends, or I could take her shopping at Hot Topic. Maybe I should let her sleep with Bert for a couple of nights. Do you think that would make her feel better? I mean he always makes me feel…"

I couldn't help it. I had to cut her off. "Abbs, you know I am just as concerned about Ziva as you are, but I've tried everything. We had a nice chat in the bathroom, and things are good between us. I don't want to screw that up by prying too much into her life."

"But Tony," Abby whined, "Please try and do something. I know you are in love with Ziva."

I began to cough uncontrollably at this moment when I got a call from Gibbs telling me to meet him in the bullpen.

"I gotta go, Abbs," I told her as I backed out of her lab.

She looked like a sad puppy, so I pulled her into a hug and told her, "You're right… about my feelings for Ziva. I'll see what I can do."

She smiled one of her famous Abby grins and hugged me even tighter.

In the bullpen, Gibbs was packing up his stuff to leave for the night.

"You needed me, boss?"

"Go home, Dinozzo. It's been a long week, and you could all use some sleep. Especially you, Ziver."

Ziva looked up from her desk and gave Gibbs a small smile. Gibbs swiftly threw his coffee into the trash can and got into the elevator without another word.

I looked up from my desk to see that Mcgee was hurriedly getting up to leave. I found this odd because usually McGeek was the last to go home.

"Where are you heading, McSpeedy?"

"If you must know, Tony, I have a date tonight."

"You mean like a date with one of your online buddies to play, right?"

"No, Tony. I mean a real date with a real woman."

"Well, would you look at that, Ziva, McHefner here has finally gotten himself a date."

I glanced over at Ziva expecting a response, but she merely nodded her head. Slightly disgruntled by Ziva's lack of enthusiasm about Mcgee's love life, I sauntered over to her desk. Mcgee took my distraction as an opportunity to book it to the elevator. I propped my elbows on her desk and Ziva scooted her chair back. I found this odd because she has never been one to be upset by physical contact.

I sighed, knowing my request would probably be shot down, leaving me feeling worse than ever. "Ziva, would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?"

She looked into my eyes, studying me for a bit.

"Tony, you do not have to hang out with me. I know you have better things to do on a Friday night."

If only she knew that the only thing I wanted to do on a Friday night was spend every waking moment with her. Of course, I could never tell her that.

"Ziva, my date canceled and I thought it would be fun to watch a movie and eat a pizza. I will be at your house at 7." I didn't like lying to Ziva about having a date cancel, but if I sounded too desperate for her company it might scare her off.

Ziva looked up at me with a slight smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Okay, Tony, that sounds fine."

Most women are usually more enthusiastic about having Anthony Dinozzo all to themselves for a night, but this was Ziva, and I was elated to just hear a "fine."

The next couple of hours were very un-Dinozzo like. I took a shower and got dressed then paced around my apartment. It was 6:30 and it took me 10 minutes to get to Ziva's. I have never been so nervous about a date in my life, and this wasn't even really a date. I tried watching TV, but nothing was on. So, at 6:35 I left my house and headed to Ziva's.

Ten minutes later, I raised a shaking hand to knock on her door. It took her about 2 minutes to come to the door, but for me it seemed like I could have watched all of the Star Wars movies and had dinner in the time it took her to get there. When she opened the door, I thought Little Dinozzo was having another fantasy. Her hair was wet, and she was wrapped in a small blue towel. I realized I was 15 minutes early, and I was about to apologize when I looked behind me and noticed her bathroom door open and a tub filled with bubbles.

I began laughing. "Ziva David, crime fighting, assassin ninja takes bubble baths?"

Ziva smiled and hit my arm. "Well I guess the bat is out of the bag now, Tony. Come on in."

Her mixed up idiom made me smile, and my heart swelled with more love for this girl. God, how I missed her.

"Cat, Ziva."

"I am more of a dog person, Tony. Let me go change and I will be right out."

I was smiling at Ziva's confusion, when she turned around. What I saw on her formerly smooth, tanned back broke my heart in two.

A long, red scar ran from the top of her right shoulder to below the line of the towel. I could see little markings all over the top of her back. It was at this moment that I realized that her time in the desert must have been far worse than I could have ever imagined.

I whispered her name, and she turned around to look at me. She must have seen the look in my eyes because she whipped back around and ran to her room.

I stood there dumfounded and terrified. The only time women ran to their bedrooms with me around was when we were half dressed and she was pulling me along. I wasn't sure if I should follow Ziva or just leave. I remembered Ziva telling me to be a man, and I knew what I had to do.

I softly knocked on her door. There was no answer. Thankfully it was unlocked. I don't know what I was expecting to find. I had hoped to find Ziva doing something really Ziva-like. Maybe sharpening her knives, practicing her kick-boxing, or cleaning her gun. I knew these were totally unrealistic expectations. I just saw her scars, the reminders of her time in the desert that she probably didn't want anyone to see. Because of this, I wasn't so surprised to see her sitting on her bed, still in her towel. She was trying to calm the wave of tears that were flowing freely down her perfect face.

I did the only thing I thought a man should: I walked over, sat beside her, and grabbed her free hand. I grabbed her chin with my other hand and tilted it upward so she could look me in the eyes.

"Ziva, I'm here," I whispered with all of the conviction that I could. I needed her to know that not only was I a man now, but I was HER man.

She nodded her head and snuggled into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and I began to softly rub her back. When I reached the large scar, I stopped and looked into her eyes again.

"Is this okay?" I asked her, not wanting to push her too far.

She nodded and allowed me to continue to rub her scars softly. I don't think I have ever been so gentle with anything in my entire life, not even my car or my designer shoes. Ziva was a delicate angel in my arms. (She would kill me with a paperclip for even thinking that.)

After her crying subsided, she looked up at me and whispered, "Thank you, Tony."

I smiled at her, "Anytime, My Ninja."

The old Dinozzo would have taken advantage of a sexy woman sitting on a bed with him wearing only her towel. This situation was different. This woman was different. I am different now. I didn't allow Little Dinozzo to take control of this situation. Instead, my mind was filled with love and respect for Ziva. I knew I needed to take this slow. On this night, I learned the true meaning of love. On this night, I learned what it means to be a man.


	2. Proving My Love

**A/N: I wasn't going to write another chapter, but I had some inspiration and decided to continue. I am not sure if there will be a third chapter. Like I said before, I am still a new author, and your feedback is really appreciated. I love Tony and Ziva. Writing and reading about them makes me happy :) Thank you so much for reading this story, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own NCIS.**

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><p>After sitting on the bed together in silence for another 10 minutes, Ziva abrubtly stood up and begin getting dressed. Part of me yearned to see her take off her towel, but I forced my new and improved "real man" side to be dominant, and I swiftly vacated the room. I went and sat on her couch in the living room.<p>

Little Dinozzo was causing images to flash in my mind of Ziva undressing, and I quickly picked up the phone and dialed the number to the local pizza place in order to distract my mind.

A few minutes later, Ziva came out of her room and joined me on the couch, dressed in sweat pants and a tank top. In the past, I would have felt disappointed if a woman came out dressed in anything other than short lingerie, but I relished in the fact that Ziva felt so comfortable around me. The fact was that Ziva was beautiful, and she didn't need lingerie or make-up to make me get butterflies in my stomach.

Now I know I've totally lost it. The woman in front of me has caused me to go from Dinozzo, "sexy stud who gets all the gals" to Tony, "man who gets butterflies in his tummy." Oddly enough, this realization didn't really upset me in the least bit. I knew I was lucky to have a woman like Ziva in my life.

Ziva broke me out of my deep thoughts when she said, "Tony, maybe I am messing up my English again, but I thought "dinner and a movie" usually implied actually eating dinner."

I heaved a sigh and smiled at her, "Of course we are eating dinner, Zee-vah. I decided to order my favorite Italian meal… Pizza!"

Ziva merely raised an eyebrow at my happiness over our meal. Ziva has never really been as enthusiastic about food as I have. As a matter of fact, not many people share my enthusiasm about food.

Ziva and I ate our dinner in silence. This was weird because on most of the dates I have been on, the women are constantly talking. I hear about everything, from their ex-boyfriend's bad habits to what type of shampoo they use on their dogs. Most of the time, I couldn't care less about what these women were saying. I just wanted to take them home and have some fun.

I knew that Ziva was different from any of these women. I knew that she needed to trust someone before she told them anything personal. I always knew that she would never fully trust me until I grew up and acted like a man.

I began to get angry. How could Ziva not realize that I have become a man for her? How did she not notice that I didn't rip off her towel and make out with her back in her bedroom? Can't she see that I'm supportive and respectful Tony now?

I came to the realization that Ziva may be able to kill me with a paperclip 18 different ways, survive a terrorist training camp for months, posses ninja-like fighting skills, and speak like 10 different languages, but she certainly did not possess the ability to read my mind. She didn't hear my mental vow to respect and love her. She also didn't hear my declaration that I was a man now.

Ziva has been betrayed by loved ones, and hurt by broken promises. I realize that if I stand up and declare my manhood to this heartbroken woman, she will take it with a grain of salt. The best way to let Ziva know I am truly a different person is to continue to prove it to her through my actions. I decided to start now.

When I noticed Ziva begin to tear up again, I moved closer to her and took her hand. I knew asking her if she was okay was a bad idea. She clearly wasn't okay. "Ziva, you know you can tell me anything, right. I promise to listen and try my best to help." I decided to make her a promise I knew I could keep. I panicked when I remembered my track record for listening to women. I exhaled in relief when I realized that Ziva probably wouldn't be talking about dog shampoo.

"Tony, I hate having to act strong all of the time. I have felt so alone since I got back. It feels as if Salim has stripped me of the last of my happiness. I honestly believe he did more emotional damage to me than physical."

Hearing her words broke my heart. "Ziva, you know that the entire team loves you and cares about you. You are never alone with us around. I want you to be happy, and I will do whatever it takes to make you smile again."

I decided not to declare my love for Ziva just yet. I figured being there for her was a good start. I couldn't help throwing some of my old Dinozzo humor into my speech, "Besides, I miss having you as my partner in Operation Prank McGeek."

This made Ziva smile. It wasn't quite her old Ziva grin that would turn heads in any room, but it was beautiful to me because it meant I had made her a tiny bit happier.

"Thank you, Tony." She leaned in for a hug. At that moment, my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller ID praying it wasn't Gibbs saying we had a weekend case. The name on the phone indicated it was Karen. She was woman I met at the bar last month and a buddy of mine gave her my number. Sure, she was cute, and she definitely put out, but she was nothing compared to the woman sitting next to me.

I closed the phone without a second thought and pulled Ziva into a hug. At that moment, anyone who knew the old Tony Dinozzo would think I had gone crazy for turning down hot and sleazy, Karen. I was new and improved Tony now, and I knew there is no place I would rather be than here with Ziva.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please review :)<strong>


	3. Effort and Patience

**A/N Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I started college last week, and I have been writing when I can. My very first reviewer, left my heart in Paris, gave me inspiration to write in Ziva's POV. Thanks for reading. Your feedback is appreciated. **

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I do not own NCIS.**

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><p><strong>Ziva's POV<strong>

I have been touched by many men. I have been kissed on the cheek by Eli, my father who left me to die. I have been in playful wrestling matches with Ari, the brother who broke all of his promises. I have been intimately explored by Rivkin, the man who betrayed my trust and broke my heart, and I have been tortured and violated at the hands of Salim, whose face still haunts my dreams. Out of all of those touches, none of them even came close to the way I felt when Tony pulled me into his arms.

Unlike the other men in my life, Tony has never betrayed or violated me. He has always kept his promises, and he saved me when I was so close to death. In the moment I was wrapped in Tony's embrace, I could see happiness shining through the layer of depression that has been surrounding my mind since my return.

I thought about the way I always trusted my father and brother, and how I let Rivkin have my heart so easily. These men never gave me any reason in the world to let them in, yet I trusted them completely.

I could not believe that I did not let Tony in after all these years. He has proven time after time that he is worthy of my trust, yet I kept pushing him away. It could be that Tony is an egocentric, movie-obsessed, overly talkative, player. I realized that the traits I was describing was exactly the way I remember Tony from my early days at NCIS. Ever since my return, I have sensed a different Tony. He was kind, gentle, caring, and sensitive. Instead of quoting movie lines, Tony was beginning to act like the romantic male lead.

I am not sure what caused this sudden change in Tony. I was not about to be one of those women that over-analyze every action a man makes. I knew that just because Tony was at my house on a Friday night, did not mean it was a date, and it certainly did NOT mean that he loved me.

I took a second to glance at Tony after we broke apart. All traces of the usual arrogance and humor in his green eyes were gone. I saw something there that I did not recognize.

I knew that the unfamiliar look in his eyes was not directed at me. Why would the beautiful Tony Dinozzo look at my scarred body with such affection and love? I felt dumb when I realized that Dinozzo obviously had a new girlfriend. That must have been the call he ignored earlier. How could I have been so stupid as to think Tony would actually care for me? I did not deserve the old Tony, much less the person he has become.

He is my partner. That's why he's been taking such good care of me. He just did not want to be stuck with Mcgee forever.

As this realization dawned on me, I stiffened in Tony's arms.

"Are you okay, Ziva?"

"Yes, Tony. I am fine. I think it is time that you leave."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay, Ziva? I really don't mind."

I knew Tony was just being nice, and what he really wanted was to meet up with his new girlfriend. Instead of making him feel bad I said, "No, Tony. It is getting late, and I really should hit the bay."

Tony laughed as he stood up from the couch. "Hay, Ziva. And if you need anything, I'm only just a phone call away."

"Thank you, Tony. You really are the best partner a girl could ask for."

As Tony headed out the door, I saw his shoulders slump. I hated to make him leave, but I knew he probably had better things to do.

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><p><strong>Tony's POV<strong>

I thought things were going great with Ziva. I thought I managed to convey all of my love to her through my hug.

When Ziva stiffened, I saw that something had changed in her eyes. I didn't want to overstay my welcome, so I obliged when she asked me to leave. I was content with the night's progress until Ziva spoke her parting words.

When she told me I was a great partner, my heart sank. Of course I was Ziva's partner, but I wanted to be so much more.

Work was slow on Monday. The Boss was in MTAC, Probie was playing World of Warcraft, and Ziva was typing swiftly on her computer. I tried not to stare at the brown-eyed beauty across from me, but not even my GSM magazine could keep me distracted.

"Dinozzo!" I flung my legs off my desk and sat up straight at the sound of the boss's voice.

"Yes Boss!"

"Go home. All of you look like hell, and I need you well rested for tomorrow."

The members of Team Gibbs looked at each other skeptically. The Boss rarely sent us home early, but we quickly recovered from our shock and began gathering our belongings.

Once again, Mcgee was the first one to the elevator. I snorted and turned to Ziva, "Looks like McSwifty has another date tonight."

Ziva smiled and my breath caught in my throat. I decided to take the opportunity to do something I have never really done before: ask a woman on a second date.

Of course, there really wasn't a first date, and this wasn't just any woman. I realized that getting Ziva to return my love was going to take a lot of work. I wasn't used to having to put effort into women because I usually let my charming smile and Little Dinozzo do the talking for me.

I knew that Ziva was worth all of this effort and patience. I swallowed past the lump in my throat and ignored the butterflies in my stomach. I smiled at Ziva and said, "Ziva, would you like to come over to my apartment to watch a movie?"

I closed my eyes waiting to hear her turn me down. I got lucky on Friday night when she conceded to spend time with me, and I wasn't counting on it happening twice. She surprised me when she said, "Yes, Tony, I would like that very much."

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><p><strong>Ziva's POV<strong>

I had no idea what Tony was doing. My Mossad Assassin side was telling me to guard my heart and be wary. However, somewhere deep down my feminine side was screaming at me to give Tony a chance. Maybe it was due to lack of sleep or too much stress, but I told Tony that I would go to his apartment.

As much as I hated to admit this, I was attracted to this new Tony. I do not know what sparked this sudden change in his behavior, and I certainly was not sure if he was attracted to me. One thing I did know for certain was that Tony was becoming a man.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! I hope to get in another chapter that was inspired by a reviewer. I can't wait to hear your opinions! Thank you!<strong>


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